Minecraft: The Stronghold
by Golden Keyblade
Summary: The sequel to "Minecraft: The Night". Herobrine enters the ancient, abandoned Stronghold and finds it is not abandoned after all. Focuses on Silverfish.


**Minecraft: The Stronghold **

**A/N: See? I told you I would have this one out quickly! However, I've realized that there is a slight problem with the rest of the series- possibly starting with the Cave Spider, and definitely with the Blaze. The problem is, the game is changing too fast for me to keep an accurate record; by the time I've written a chapter, Notch has added something that makes it inaccurate. What I'll probably end up doing is going back sometime after I'm done and rewriting the stories based on what ends up happening. (The Enderdragon in particular seems to be changing a LOT.) **

**But anyway, let's get to the story, shall we? **

* * *

><p>Herobrine examined the Eye of Ender carefully, as if it might break in his hands. It did indeed seem to be an eye of pure glass, blue and green with a dark slit-type pupil, like a cat's eye. The Endermen had said it would guide him to the Stronghold where they had first emerged, but how?<p>

Herobrine spent several minutes attempting to identify how the object would guide him. He turned it over and over in his hand; he rolled it along the ground; he even placed it in water, though he doubted this would help.

"Argh!" he finally screamed. "How is this stupid eye supposed to help me?" In frustration, he threw the Eye up into the air.

Suddenly, he noticed something strange. The Eye was not going in the same direction he had thrown it. Rather, it was flying slightly to the left, leaving a trail of light purple sparks behind it. It hovered in the air for a few minutes, and then flew away.

"Ah!" exclaimed Herobrine. "That must be what they meant when they said the Eye would guide me!"

For the next few minutes (it was now beginning to get a little dark), Herobrine followed the Eye, throwing it up in the air and following its direction. Each time the Eye fell to the ground again. (By now Herobrine had long since taken off the pumpkin he had been required to put on his head as he talked to the Endermen.)

After a few minutes, instead of flying into the ground, Herobrine saw that the Eye suddenly curved downward into the ground. He quickly pulled out a human shovel and then began to dig downwards (though not straight down; human miners had proven many times the wisdom of never EVER digging straight down).

Before long, he encountered stone. He removed a new tool, a bedrock pickaxe, from his inventory and continued.

Suddenly, he was no longer digging through stone, or dirt, or even gravel. Instead, he had arrived at stone bricks. He was in the Stronghold. He broke the block and opened a hole into the ancient structure.

He found himself in a classic Stronghold hallway: the rooms on either side were sealed off with iron bars and iron doors. Lying on the floor of the hall was the Eye of Ender.

"Well, well," said Herobrine quietly. "It would appear the Eye DOES point to Strongholds. Interesting..."

He picked up the Eye and tossed it one more time. The Eye arced around the corner, with Herobrine right after it.

Along the way, Herobrine passed many famous types of Stronghold rooms: a central plaza with a large pillar and torches; a small room with some kind of fountain; and what looked like the entrance to a large library. He even saw bits of moss stone: the telltale signs of an adjoining Dungeon. It was odd; Herobrine didn't know of any Spawners down by this Stronghold.

Suddenly, Herobrine emerged into a room unlike any Stronghold room he had ever seen. The Eye was floating in the doorway. Herobrine took it and began to gaze at the old room in amazement.

The room was no larger than most other rooms; all the walls, the ceiling, and the floor were made from stone brick and its derivatives. That was where the familiarity stopped, however. In the middle of the room was a pool of lava, with a dais in front of it. Upon the dais sat an odd Spawner, with steps leading up to it. Herobrine climbed the steps and took a look at the Spawner, but as it was currently inactive, there was no way to tell what would be born from it.

Suddenly, Herobrine paused, looked past the Spawner cage... and saw something unlike anything he'd ever seen.

Sitting in front of him was an Ender Portal.

There was nothing else it could possibly be. The portal resembled the "Air Portals" that the Endermen spoke of. Its frame did not extend up and down, as was the case with the Nether and Aether Portals. Rather, it extended over the tiny pool of lava and formed a perfect gateway above it, making a broken square of strange greenish-blue blocks. Every one of these blocks seemed to have some kind of slot in it.

Suddenly Herobrine heard a scuffling sound a few feet behind him. He turned and saw a strange creature sitting on the Spawner. It was small and grey, and was watching him with intense black eyes.

"Who are you?" it snapped. "What are you doing here in the End Chamber?"

"My apologies," said Herobrine quietly. "My name is Herobrine, brother of Notch, protector of Night Creatures."

The creature started. "Oh, my apologies, my lord!" the creature exclaimed. "I didn't recognize you from behind! It won't happen again, I swear!"

"It's fine," said Herobrine in a calming tone. "Now, I would like to know who you are."

Suddenly, dozens of the small silvery creatures began to pour out of the doorway, as well as the walls themselves. Blocks began to shatter as the strange creatures poured into the room. They stopped moving, watching Herobrine with great interest, their black eyes fixed on him.

"We are the Silverfish," said the lead creature, as soon as his fellows were all present. "We are the Ones who Live in Stone, the Silent Swarm, Guardians of the Portal."

This last one caught Herobrine's attention. "So this IS the Ender Portal?" he asked, excitedly. "Do you know how to turn it back on? The Endermen sent me down to find the way to activate it!"

"Ah!" exclaimed the insectoid brightly. "You've been in contact with the Endermen! They're our old friends; it's good to know they're doing fine."

Herobrine continued to look at the lead Silverfish with anticipation. The Silverfish quickly continued.

"To answer your questions," it said, "yes and no. Yes, this is the Ender Portal, though we just call it an End Portal nowadays; Ender Portal is just too long. But no, we haven't been able to turn it on."

Herobrine sighed. Another lead down the drain.

"But," added the Silverfish brightly, "we think that we know how it might be done!"

Herobrine was suddenly fully alert. "You know? How will we do it?"

"Follow us!" exclaimed the Silverfish. He and the rest of the swarm began to move through the doorway. After a glance at the End Portal, Herobrine headed out the door after them.

"So," asked Herobrine, jogging to keep up with all the Silverfish, "do you come from the End, too?"

"Oh, no," said the leader, calling back. "We were born right here in the Stronghold. That Spawner back there was where we came from."

"But I do not know of any other Silverfish Spawners," said Herobrine, confused. "Is yours unique?"

"I guess so," said the leader, rounding a bend. "From what we've gathered, our Spawner used to generate normal spiders; you saw the empty Dungeon on the way in here. It was brought into the End Chamber by whoever lived in the Stronghold thousands of years ago. The dimensional shock that resulted when the portal opened caused the Spawner to malfunction, creating our race. We think that must be why we're so obsessed with fixing the portal. The blast must've also fused the Spawner with nearby stone; that's why all of us can impersonate stone blocks."

"But who lived here before?" asked Herobrine.

"No idea," said the Silverfish; if it had had a shoulder, it would have shrugged. "The Spawner didn't start making us until months after the portal was closed, and by then the Endermen had killed everyone here. The people who made the Strongholds, the Portal, the Mines, and everything...it's still a mystery."

"Mines?" asked Herobrine. "What mines?"

But this time, the Silverfish did not answer. The huge swarm simply turned, entering a small room with carvings on the wall.

"This," said the leader proudly, "is where we managed to finally unlock the secret of the End Portals. Our race has spent hundreds of years trying to decipher the carvings, and at last we managed to do it." Suddenly the leader started to laugh. "And the ironic part," he panted, "is that the driving force behind the portal, the key to open the dimension gate, has been carried around by the Endermen themselves for all this time!"

"What?" asked Herobrine, now very confused.

"It's the Eyes!" exclaimed the leader, triggering cries of "The Eyes! The Eyes!" from the surrounding Silverfish.

"The Eyes?" asked Herobrine, withdrawing the green gem-like object from his pocket. "You mean like this? The Eyes of Ender?"

The Silverfish instantly became very excited, seeming transfixed by the object in Herobrine's hands.

"Yes!" shouted the leader in joy. "That's exactly what we mean! The Ender Pearls the Endermen possess have the power to teleport through space. But when infused with the powdered rod of a Blaze, the Pearls become even stronger, transforming into Eyes of Ender."

"And what do they do?" asked Herobrine. "Why does this Eye point me back to this Stronghold?"

"All Eyes do that," said the leader. "When thrown into the air, the Eyes fly toward the nearest End Portal. They are attracted to the Portal Blocks; they are drawn, like magnets, to the portal, longing to rejoin the gateway."

"Rejoin?"

"Yes!" exclaimed the leader triumphantly. "According to the inscription, when Eyes of Ender are inserted into the twelve blocks of the portal, their powers are turned inwards and driven down through the dimensions, creating a hole in space and time..."

"...and opening a portal to the End!" Herobrine was so excited he finished the leader's sentence. "This is perfect! I just need to have the Endermen give me a few Pearls! Then all I have to do is get that stuff you mentioned, create more Eyes of Ender, place them in the gateway, and bam! We've got a working End Portal!"

"It's not that simple," sighed the Silverfish leader, his tones becoming sad all of a sudden. "The Blaze can only be found in one place, and it is very dangerous."

"What place?" asked Herobrine, still feeling excited; it couldn't be long now. Soon, the Endermen would be home, and everything would be right again.

The Silverfish began to look at each other, which was pretty awesome-looking, considering the size of the swarm. Finally the leader spoke up.

"The Blazes," he said in nervous tones, "can be found only in the Ancient Citadel in the Nether."

"The Ancient Citadel?" This was something Herobrine had never heard of. "I did not know of any structure within the Nether."

"It is the only one of its kind," said the Silverfish. "It's a huge structure, almost as big as this Stronghold, or maybe even bigger! The Blaze can be found in the topmost tower; only the powdered Blaze Rods can be used to enhance the Pearls' power."

"Okay," said Herobrine slowly. "So how do I find the Citadel? The humans have been in the Nether for years, but they have never found the place you speak of."

"It's well hidden," said the Silverfish leader. "Once it was visible for miles, but now it's mostly buried under big Netherrack towers. There's an old Abandoned Mine Shaft which connects to this place; inside it is a broken portal that leads to the Nether. From there, you should be able to make your way inside."

Herobrine was still uncertain. "I've been inside of the Abandoned Mine Shafts before," he said. "The tunnels can go on for miles. How will I find the way to the portal?"

"There is someone in the mines," said the leader. "He can guide you to the portal."

"Who?" asked Herobrine. "Who is in the mines?"

But the Silverfish were already beginning to scurry out of sight. The leader paused on the doorway, with the rest of his swarm scurrying away. "You will see," he said, looking directly at Herobrine. "Go into the mines. Enter the Nether Citadel. Obtain the Blaze Powder. Craft the Eyes. Open the portal. Our friends the Endermen are counting on you."

And with that, the leader scuttled away and was gone, along with the rest of the swarm.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So yeah, the story is now advanced further! But still, questions hang in the air: who is waiting for Herobrine in the Mines? Why were the Silverfish so worried that Herobrine would not be able to get the Blaze Powder? What is the nature of this "Nether Citadel"? What was the mysterious civilization that constructed the Strongholds and the End Portals? The answers will be revealed in time (by which I mean over the course of the next seven oneshots)! Until then... **

**R&R! **


End file.
